Defense Committee Approves Zaytun to Stay in Iraq
As expected, the defense committee of the National Assembly has approved a bill to extend the deployment of Korea's Zaytun unit in Iraq until the end of next year. The bill, passed by a vote of 15-1, specifies that the government should withdraw the unit from Iraq by the end of next year.
The bill also stipulated intentions to reduce the number of Korean troops. Currently 2,300 soldiers are stationed in Iraq, but it will be trimmed to 1,200 soldiers by next April. According to the bill passed yesterday, Korean troops have to complete operations by next year.
The defense committee has also passed a bill to extend the operation of Korean medical troops one year more in Afghanistan. At a hearing, Minister of Defense Kim Jang Soo told the committee that the government wants to complete its mission successfully in Iraq by the end of 2007. The government has been strongly pressed by domestic civic groups to withdraw Korean troops from Iraq.
Concerning the withdrawal of the Zaytun unit, the minister replied, “I think it is possible to pull them out when their mission is completed in Iraq, but we do not know exactly when it will be possible to withdraw the Korean Zaytun unit from Iraq, but I think it could be possible to establish a schedule for withdrawal in the beginning of next year.”
The defense ministry plans to trim the current number of Korean troops stationed in Iraq to 1,200 by next April.
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 / 입력시간: 2006. 12.14. 08:25
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